The Seed of Desire
by EraTomo
Summary: Tenten finds a plant, with which she can change anything in her life. But, they always say.. 'Be careful what you wish for' Romance in later chapters. Note: Ch. 3 edits in progress. Chapter Six takes it from Humor to Horror.
1. The First Wish

Summary: Tenten finds a plant, with which she can change anything in her life. But, they always say... 'be careful what you wish for!'

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Tenten was walking down the street, bored without anything to do. She had sparred with Neji, checked on Lee, and practiced her own techniques. There was nothing left for her to do but window shop. She passed clothing stores, dental stores, the ramen stand...

"Hi, Tenten!"

"Hey, Hinata!"

"You weren't by any chance looking for Naruto, were you?" Tenten asked slyly.

"A-ah... Uhm..." Hinata mumbled.

"I'm sorry to say you won't find him… he's on a mission."

"O-oh..."

"So you should come shopping with me!"

"O-okay. I h-heard about an interesting looking s-store, but it c-creeps me out... I can't g-go in there al-lone."

"Okay! Let's go!" Tenten said. Hinata simply nodded.

Hinata led the way, into an area of Konoha that, strangely, Tenten hadn't been to before. Stopping abruptly, Hinata pointed a shaky finger to a shop. It had no windows and a purple sign with illegible words at the top. The door embedded into the building had a welcome sign, which was the only thing that seemed friendly about the whole building.

Tenten gulped, afraid. Then she became annoyed with herself. She wasn't afraid to risk her life on missions everyday, but she was afraid of a silly little _shop?_ She firmly gripped Hinata's hand and walked inside.

Upon entering, Tenten felt Hinata's hand slip out of her own. Looking around, she only saw pure darkness.

"H-hello! Hinata?" Tenten yelled, feeling very vulnerable. Her hands formed a seal, and closed her eyes tight. "KAI!"

She hopefully peeked out of one eye, but still saw only darkness. 'What kind of ninjutsu is this?' She thought to herself. She backed up towards where the entrance had been, hoping to feel a door, but felt only air. Turning to where the door once was, she came face-to-face with...

...Neji?

"Neji! What the heck is going on?!" She cried urgently. Neji didn't reply.

"Neji?" Tenten said, waving her hand in front of her face. She touched him as well. He was as cold as a block of ice...

He suddenly grabbed her hand, and twisted it.

She winced. "What is going on here?" She demanded.

"Be careful what you wish for."

"What the heck?"

"Meddling can only be solved with meddling."

"You sound like a Chinese fortune cookie!"

"Having no flaws... is a flaw."

Tenten was now paying absolutely no attention to his words. After thinking for a small while, she came to a realization.

"Hey!" She interrupted Neji in the middle of his lecture. He looked at her, almost in annoyance.

"You're hurting my arm!" She yelled, and then kicked him in his crotch. He let go of her arm, and she took this opportunity to stomp on his feet, punch his stomach, and poke his eyes.

"Yep, you're definitely not Neji," She looked at the fake-Neji pitifully. The last thing she did in that black abyss was elbow the side of his neck, effectively knocking him out. He fell to the ground with a sickening bang. It sounded like hollow wood hitting tile flooring. Then she was brought into light.

Blinking wearily, she focused on the giant blobs above her. "Eh?" She said, labeling the blobs as Hinata, Neji, Sakura, and Naruto. She was lying on the ground outside of the ramen shop.

"You okay?" Sakura asked. Tenten's eyes widened with recognition as she sat up and punched Neji in the face, knocking the off guard ninja to the ground.

"AHHH!" She screamed, confused. Neji sat up and glared at her.

"What was that for?" He yelled. She squatted in front of him and touched his neck. "Eh? You aren't an ice cube anymore!" Neji stared at her blankly.

"Ice cube?" Naruto asked.

"Y-yeah!" Tenten yelled, waving her arms frantically. "Th-there was absolutely nothing in that shop! And the he-" She pointed at Neji, "-came! Except he was a cross between an ice cube and a Chinese fortune cookie! Then I beat him up, and now here I am!"

Everyone exchanged worried glances with each other.

"Uhm, T-Tenten, you passed out in the shop," Hinata said gently.

"Of course I did," Tenten muttered quietly.

---------------------

The next day, after she had managed to convince everyone that she was not insane, Tenten received a package. She eagerly opened it, ignoring her conscience, which had taken the form of Neji and was saying that she should check what was inside before she opened it in case it was a trap. Inside the box was a potted plant. But not just any potted plant!

"Self-Caring plant," The card read. "Takes care of itself." She frowned at its redundancy and flipped the card over, seeing nothing. Looking for some note of who sent it, she found a purple blotch. Wondering who the hell would send her a self-caring plant, she took it up to her room, placing it on her windowsill. It probably didn't take care of itself. It probably was a cheap gimmick and the plant could just last for a month without water. Just to make sure, she grabbed a cup of water and watered the plant. Getting up, she tripped over a shuriken lying on the floor and spilled water all over her room.

"Darnit! I can't keep leaving this stuff all over my room!" Putting the cup down, she checked to see if anything was damaged. The card that had come with the plant had gotten wet. She picked up the card and looked it over. The back, which had previously been blank, now read, "Make a wish."

'..What the hell. Make a wish?' She thought. She laughed bitterly, and left the room to jog three laps around Konoha as she always did after she trained.

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Getting back from her jog and thoroughly exhausted, she plopped on her bed and looked at the plant once more. Unable to stop the small childish voice in her head telling her to "give it a chance," she got up and sat next to it.

'I wish I could have all my favorite foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner tomorrow.' Eyeing it warily, she figured that 'wish' should prove if the plant actually made wishes. Suddenly overcome by a wave of exhaustion, she crawled into her bed and passed out.

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Review please. 

EraTomo

(P.S. I need to know... should it be Naru/Hina Sasu/Saku, or should it be Saku/Naru Hina/Kiba? Vote on it. (I'll give you until chapter 5.)


	2. The Second Wish

The voting so far is:

Naru/Hina Sasu/Saku - 3

Hina/Kiba Naru/Saku - 1

Review, at least to vote!

* * *

Tenten yawned and got out of the bed, rubbing her eyes. What time did she go to bed last night? She was so tired... She looked over at the clock.

'9:10 AM'

What? She overslept and she's _still_ tired?

Wait... 9:10? Oh no. She's late! Neji's going to be even angrier than he was before, when she punched him in the face! She jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom. Taking a quick shower and with her hair still sopping went, she changed into her usual outfit and ran down the stairs into the kitchen, ready to eat at the speed of lightning.

"Oh honey!" Her mom cooed at her daughter.

"What mom? I'm late!"

"I made your favorite for breakfast, a broccoli, egg, and ham omelet!" Tenten was thrown off for a moment, but then smiled and nearly swallowed her breakfast whole. Taking the lunch her mom kindly packed for her, she ran at top speed towards the training grounds.

"Tenteeennn! You're late! You must key into your amazing youthful-waking-up-services!" Gai yelled to her.

"Indeed so!" Lee yelled as well.

"You overslept? That's why I was sparring against a tree until 9:45?" Neji asked. Tenten just nodded and prepared her weapons.

----------------

Around lunch time, everyone sat down to eat lunch. Tenten opened her bag to see a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a hot dog, and cranberry juice.

"My favorites!" She exclaimed happily, and began eating, only for a brief moment thinking about the plant. It couldn't be, right?

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After more sparring with Neji, which resulted in her near victory, along with an uneventful walk home, Tenten sat down to eat some dinner. Tonight her mom had made rice and beef with carrots.

"My favorites again! THANKS MOM!" She dug in. Afterwards she went out for a jog around Konoha... 3 laps, as always.

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Getting home, she ran up the stairs as fast as she could. Sitting down and staring at the plant with wonder, she decided to make another wish. "I wish that... I had that one mega-shuriken I saw in the mall!" She jumped on her bed, full of anticipation. That shuriken could mean her victory against Neji! After about a half hour making strategies in bed, she fell asleep.

--

The next day she woke up early. She had breakfast, which was her favorite again, and headed to the training grounds. After sparring with Neji, and almost beating him, she had her favorite lunch. Again. Then she sparred with Lee, and beat him… in the weapons category, at least, and ran home, having her favorite dinner again. There was no sign of the mega-shuriken throughout that whole day, despite Tenten looking far and wide.

As soon as she had returned home, Tenten ran into her room and glared angrily at the plant. "Why did you work for my ridiculous food wish, but not for my mega-shuriken wish?!" She asked it, but the plant didn't respond even though she had half expected it to.

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Five days later, Tenten had to resort to eating snacks that consisted of no meat, vegetables, or grains for breakfast, lunch and dinner. She was so sick of her favorite foods she nearly threw up at the smell of them! Who knew that too much of something so good would make you sick of it? ...Now that she thought about it that sounded like something that Chinese Fortune Ice Cube Neji would say. Oh well.

With still no sign of the mega-shuriken, she burst into her room, and wished over and over that she would not have to eat her favorite foods for breakfast, lunch, or dinner any longer. Overcome with more exhaustion, she fell onto her bed and was asleep before she could curse the plant.

---------------

The next day she did not have her favorite foods, although she still stayed away from vegetables, grains, and meat. After sparring, eating, sparring, walking home, jogging around Konoha, and eating dinner she angrily stomped up to her room and began yelling at the plant.

"SO YOU WORK FOR STUPID FOOD WISHES BUT NOT FOR A MEGA-SHURIKEN!" She yelled, and decided to wish for the mega-shuriken every single day until she got what she wanted.

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On the 7th day, she sighed with frustration and made her wish again. If it didn't work, she feared she would end up throwing the plant out of the window. As soon as she made the wish, she fell asleep on the floor.

The next day she did her daily routine, consisting of sparring, and eating. The only thing that differed was that she was going over to Neji's house after training. This house-visitation hardly ever happened, as the only other time it did happen was when it had been Neji's birthday, and that was a pretty boring occasion, with all those old men giving her looks as if to say,

'Don't touch him. Don't look at him. Don't even think about him. I READ YOUR MIND! I HEARD YOU THINK THAT! YOU ARE A DISGRACE! GET OUT OF HERE!'

However you looked at it, it was something big, so she followed Neji to his house.

While walking in awkward silence, she asked, "Uh, so why am I coming to your house?"

"Well, I just thought... you know, you should... and I have something for you." He said slowly. Tenten immediately thought about her wish, but quickly her mind whisked her off to dreamland... Neji giving her a cake, with icing that expressed his innermost feelings, or him kissing her as they lived happily ever after, or him giving her a ring and asking her to-

"We're here." Neji muttered. There was a bump on his head that she hadn't noticed before.

"O-oh yeah," She said quickly, and then peered at his head.

"Uh, are you okay?"

"Yes. I'm not just okay; I'm a genius, a completely coordinated genius.

"Okay..." She replied uncertainly, and followed Neji through the compound to his room.

"You stay in here while I get the… thing," He told her.

"Okay!" She said, and waiting until he left to go snooping through his room. Unlike her bedroom, his was neat and tidy. It was also plain. A dresser, a bathroom, a bed, a clo--ooh! A closet! Isn't that where a boy normally hides his darkest secrets? Other than, of course, hiding them under his pillow?

She quietly opened the door to his closet and saw many many many different outfits of his. Like his training outfit, and… his training outfit, and... a pink dress? Tenten shuddered and closed the closet door. Heading for the only _other_ place where boys keep their darkest secrets, she looked under the pillow on his bed.

'Ooh, it's a picture...'

As she reached down to pick it up, she heard the door open. Dropping the pillow and the picture with it, she hastily turned around.

"Hello!"

"What are you doing here, Tenten?" Hinata asked.

"N-nothing. Well, Neji invited me here." Hinata's eyes widened.

"Oh he's giving you... you know, he had to save up for it all by himself!" Seeing the look on Tenten's face that clearly said, 'But he is rich!' Hinata explained, "Hiashi-sama wouldn't just give it to him." Neji walked into the room and pointed back towards the hallway. Hinata followed the finger and left, and after he was sure she was gone, Neji gave Tenten a plain white box. A big, and plain white box.

"Thank you, Neji!"

"Open it," He said, his voice not cold, but something close to anxious. She thought about this and began laughing in her head.

She quickly opened the box, and was met with not one, but three giant shuriken from the mall. "No... Way..." She said quietly at first. Then her voice got louder.

"NO WAY!" She screamed now, beaming from ear to ear.

"OH THANK YOU NEJI!" She said, and tackle-hugged him, knocking him to the floor in the process.

And she could have sworn she had seen his ears burning.

-----------------

When she got home she stared at the plant. Putting two and two together, she thought,

'So, you only work... once a week...'

At this realization, Tenten squealed and darted off to plan for her next wishes.

* * *

EraTomo

P.S. Review. Especially constructive criticism!


	3. The Third Wish

Okay, here's the long, and long awaited chapter. Enjoy, because you are eating the fruits of my labor!

...I thank Rock Lee for that. xD

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"Hehehe..." Tenten laughed evilly, glaring at the plant over all of her new giant shuriken. "Tomorrow it is time for my wish to come true, and I know what I want to wish for, hehehe..."

She had actually gotten the idea from Gai-Sensei.

"Today you will learn about other countries!" The words still echoed in her ears. "Do not let your studies fail you, our noble blossom!"

"Eh?" Tenten turned to look out her window and saw Gai standing there. "Uh, Gai-Sensei? How the hell are you standing on my second floor window?"

"Tenten! Youth is for all to share!" A voice equally annoying and belonging to Rock Lee floated up to her.

Figures...

"Leave before I stab you both repeatedly with kunai." She muttered darkly, and from the evil glint in her eyes, Rock Lee and Gai knew she wasn't joking around.

"Goodbye our honorable-"

"LEAVE!"

"Onto Neji-san!" Rock Lee yipped, his voice slowly fading into the distance.

"I need a new house..." She muttered, and then marked that down on her wish list. Turning back to her plant, she made a very specific wish.

"I wish everyone I know and I lived in a random country of your choosing, and wherever we lived I still had you." Overcome by the wishing-tiredness, she fell asleep in bed.

---------------

"OYYY! TENTENNN!" Her mom screeched harshly up the stairs and into her room. Her eyes flew open and she gasped. First, it was 6:00. Second, her bed was King-sized. Third, her room was twice as big as her mom's. Fourth, it wasn't a mess, and Fifth...

"WHERE THE HELL ARE MY WEAPONSSS?" Panicking, she started to run towards the door, only to spot a full length mirror.

"Eh?"

Where did she get pink pajamas with red and pink hearts and big white bunnies on them?

"Eh?"

Why were they all shiny and silky? Grabbing the clothes with what she knew was a strange look on her face, she pinched herself.

"EH!"

And why wasn't she dreaming? Flinging open the closet door, she gasped. Pink, pink, white, blue, pink, pink, green, pink, yellow, orange, more pink, magenta, light pink, red, purple, black, brown, pink, khaki, and 50 different shades of red, pink, magenta, and pink swam towards her view.

"TENTENNN! GET DRESSED NOW OR YOU'RE GONNA BE LATE FOR SCHOOL!"

"Eh? BUT MOM, I GRADUATED FROM THE NINJA ACADAMY A YEAR AGO!"

There was a slight pause, and then, "DID YOU HIT YOUR HEAD BEFORE YOU FELL ASLEEP, OR JUST HAD A NIGHTMARE? GEEET DRESSEDD NOOWW! OR YOU'RE GROUNDED!" She added.

Tenten sighed, and threw on a yellow shirt, and some strange fabric that was labeled, 'Denim Jeans.'

Running downstairs, there was an odd noise out the window.

"Your friends are here Tenten, get in their car NOW." Oddly forceful, she was. Tenten ran out the door and met Ino, Sakura, and Hinata.

"It's about time Tenten. Ooh it's our song!" Sakura yipped happily in a high pitched voice. She and Ino and Hinata all started singing to it. After a bit of observing, Tenten concluded that Hinata had taken on the old Sakura's personality, Sakura had taken on Ino's old personality, and Ino was now equivalent to the worst prep you had ever seen.

-----------

Tenten gasped after leaving the 6th class. Who were these people! She knew not. All she knew was pain, confusion, and people. Masses of people. Apparently she was sent to this 'princy-pal's' office because she couldn't get her locker open, resulting in not getting her homework or anything else for that matter, resulting in failures and supposed sassy the 'teachers.' She also got cussed out when she called one of them her sensei.

She made a face slightly, and saw a familiar one.

"NEJI!" She screeched. He looked around and saw her rushing towards him. Panicking, he walked the opposite direction. "N-neji?" She questioned. He turned to look nervously at her. "I--" Want to know where I am, what's a locker, what's school. As all of these questions confused her and she continued approaching Neji, she felt a big object hit her head hard, and fell into darkness.

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"Be careful what you wish for." What was that? "Not all of it can be undone." Err who was talking? "If you make a mistake, unless you are truly sorry for it, and would give your life for it, it cannot change."

-  
"URRRGH!" She grumbled loudly, waking up. Neji and Shino stood over her.

"What happened?" She asked.

"I opened my locker door and you ran into it." Shino stated calmly.

"What's a locker?" She asked, feeling stupid. Shino looked at Neji as if concerned.

"A locker is one of those big blue doors out there." He said, pointing out the door into the hallway.

"Where am I?"

"The nurse's office here in school," Tenten felt her eyes widen.

"The nurses have an office in this 'school?' What is 'school' anyways?" She asked as her head started to throb painfully.

"...It's where we are educated for life..." Shino answered unsurely. He turned to Neji. "Mild amnesia. Who knows how long it could last." She gasped.

"AMNESIA!" Such a big, long word _had_ to be trouble.

"Err..." Shino muttered aloud, although most probably only to himself. "Well, I'm leaving for the weekend; Neji can take care of you, bye!"

"Eh?" Tenten muttered. "Wait, what?" Neji asked, but Shino was already out the door.

------------------

"AHAHAHAHAHA!" Tenten laughed happily, feeling proud of herself. "I GET IT NOW! A locker is something inside a school! My combination, for use of getting it open, is 32-50-01! School is a place that most people hate to go to because it's confusing! Homework is work for use of making homes! The cafeteria is the worst place in the whole building! People have died in the cafeteria! People who are injured in the Jimmy or the Cafeteria go to the nurse's office, which is where I am!" Having finished reciting that to herself, she turned proudly to Neji. He shrugged.

"More or less, yeah," Looking around for a bit, his eyes found the clock. "Err... school's been out for 3 hours, can we go now?"

"We? Why we?" Tenten curiously questioned.

"Because our school believes in some crappy policy where if you do something wrong, you have to fix it. I have to stick with you until your amnesia clears away, or until you get back on your feet." He grumbled.

"Hahaha! You are so different from the you I know."

"Eh?"

"Hn,"

"...Let's go." He said, and ushered her out the school. "Where do you live?"

"Uhm..."

"Err... that's right... looks like you'll be spending the night at my house." He groaned. She groaned inwardly too. She didn't like this new out-of-character Neji, and now she'd be spending the night at his house! This is turning out to be one of those fanfics where the OOC's decide to put themselves in a story and not like the character they had to spend time with at some point, then the character they had to spent time with falls in love with the ignorant OOC, and the OOC eventually finds herself in some fluffy situation where it's like a teenage romance!

Tenten stood there thinking that very long thought whilst Neji stood there staring at her. She was looking into space. Yep, space. It gets boring.

Tenten laughed as she realized, it worked! He though she was insane now! YAY!

"Err... You're sleeping with my sister..."

"Hinata?" He gave her a weird look.

"No, not Hinata... my sister's Temari."

-------------

"AGH!" Tenten gasped as she ran into Temari, who was gasping for air in the swimming pool with something grabbing her leg.

"LET GO OF ME, KIBA!" She screeched, just before she was drug back under the water.

Kiba! What the crap? "Kiba lives here?" Tenten asked.

"No, Kiba's my sister's... /boyfriend/." Neji hissed. Tenten decided to leave it there. Neji jumped into the small pool that was behind their even smaller house, and drug Temari back up to the surface. "Temari, Tenten is sleeping in your room because she has amnesia." Temari gave Neji a confused look, and then looked at Tenten with a dirty one.

While this was going on, Tenten had approached the side of the pool, and saw Kiba underneath it grinning at her. Then he grabbed her leg and pulled her in. "EEP!" She screamed, right before she fell into the freezing cold water.

Kicking her legs, she tried to swim to the surface for more air, but Kiba _wouldn't let go_! Air bubbles flew out of her mouth as she sunk lower and lower, her jeans dragging her down with Kiba, until she was rescued by...

Temari, kind of. (I told you this was no teenage girl's fantasy.)

"GET OFF MY BOYFRIEND YOU SLUT!" She shrieked, throwing Tenten towards the side of the pool without much strength, and diving down either to kiss Kiba or slap him.

Tenten panted, and then realized, Temari was her enemy in school! Shrieking with rage, she dove down to Temari, who was currently slapping Kiba whilst kissing him. She gripped her arm with one hand and started scratching with the other, kicking with both her legs. The fight underwater continued, until Temari ran out of air and went up for some. Tenten noticed this and followed right underneath her. She was going fast enough that if Temari stopped...

WHAM!

Temari was set flying out of the water onto the grass whilst Tenten nurtured her shoulders and head.

"YOU BITCH!" Tenten looked up. Temari looked livid with rage, and lunged towards her. Tenten nimbly sidestepped it... technically, if you count grabbing the edge of the pool and pulling sidestepping, and watched as Temari belly-flopped. Laughing, she trying to get out of the pool, only to be pulled in by Neji!

"WHAT THE FU-blublulblulblulblulb..." She screamed, cut off by the water. Her throat was hurting. Neji had elbowed her there, coming to the aid of Temari. He grabbed her arm and her waist, starting to kick her in numerous areas. Most of the air left her lungs as she fought to get away from his grip without success. Darkness slowly creeping in on her vision, she felt Neji suddenly release her as someone/something lifted her to the surface, throwing her on the ground. She sputtered and coughed, unable to move.

"You okay?" A soft voice said. Looking up, she found Temari. "Heheh. I thought you were a goner! You've been practicing haven't you?" She asked in a kind voice.

"What the fuck?" Tenten stated hoarsely.

"Oh yeah, you forgot I was your sparring partner, duh! Well I guess with all that crap outta your head, you get better at physical stuff, eh?" She said, nudging Tenten's sore arm.

"Err..."

"Oh, yeah... sorry about that slut thing, but we... had a sparring thing tonight, and.. I guess I thought you showed up for the sparring!" She explained.

"What about my... what had he said? Abhisma?"

"Er... short-term memory loss." Temari said, knocking herself on her skull.

"What about Kiba?"

"He always starts our battles for us." She said, affectionatly rubbing his arm, and then punching it. "Dumbass. Almost drowned her. AND YOU!" She screeched, turning to Neji. "What was that?"

He blinked. "No clue."

-----------

The next day Tenten sat up and yawned. "It's the weekend!" She yelled happily. "I wanna go to the mall." Wait a sec, the mall? Hmm... Oh well.,.

For the whole of that day, Neji showed her how to get around their school, with special permission from the principal. She also learned a pledge!

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the righted states of America."

That explained where she was. America! How interesting. Neji let her go to her house, which she remembered where it was, for some reason.

Her mom had known what had happened, and that made thing easier for Tenten. When she got to her room, she saw her mom had cleaned it up for her. How nice! Wait, where was her plant?

"Mom, where'd you put my plant?"

"That trash? I threw it out last night. The garbage truck came and took it away this morning."

Tenten fainted.

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The next day Tenten woke up in her bed. She reached over to her phone and four-wayed Hinata and Ino and Sakura.

"Hey guys, I need your help..." She explained what had happened the few nights before. "And I really need that plant back!"

"Why do you need a stupid plant back?" Sakura asked.

"It's just a plant, buy a new one!" Ino stated.

"Is it special in some way?" Hinata asked.

"Er… uhm, yes it is! In fact, it's... Neji's," The three girls crooned.

"How sad! He'll be pissed if he doesn't get it back!" Hinata exclaimed.

"And, he always can tell when or when it isn't the real one he used to have." Sakura told them all. Hinata and Ino crooned again.

"Fine," Hinata said with a sigh. "I'll help."

"I'll help too, but you owe me BIG!" Sakura said, and you could tell she had an incredibly Sasuke-like smirk on.

Wait... Who _was_ Sasuke?

"I'm not helping. Good-bye!" Ino said, and hung up.

"Bitch. We sooo need her out of our group." Sakura grumbled.

"I'll meet you at the garbage dump in 30 minutes."

"Okay see you there, Tenten."

"Bye." Tenten hung up.

---

"Jeebus, thanks so much for helping me!" Tenten exclaimed when they both showed up.

"Owe me." Sakura stated. As they started looking through th huge mounds of sticking garbage, Tenten asked a question.

"Hey, who is Sasuke? I only remember that he smirks."

"Oh, he was that annoying hyper-active exchange student who always hung out with Naruto. Naruto was the one who smirked." Sakura stated, sighing when she mentioned Naruto.

"Sakura loves Naruto, but Sasuke loved her, and I love Sasuke, but none of them notice." Hinata stated, gesturing to the spaced out Sakura who was blushing. "Like so."

Tenten thought for a moment. "Oh yeah, now I remember."

"I FOUND THE PLANT!" Hinata shrieked, but not very happily.

"Where!" Tenten asked.

"THERE!" She pointed. It was on a conveyor belt... about to be burned!

"NOO!" Tenten screamed, running through piles of garbage in an attempt to get there in time. Hinata followed, shrieking, "STOP! STOP PLEASE!" Sakura was still day dreaming.

"STOP PLEASE STOP THE CONVEYOR BELT PLEASE IS ANYONE LISTENING STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!" Hinata shrieking continuously, hardly even stopping for a breath. Tenten was more focused on grabbing it before it fell. 3 yards away for burning, yet she was not even near it!

Closer and closer it got, and faster and faster she ran, and louder and louder Hinata screamed. It was only two feet away now! Tenten was 3 yards away, could she make it?

"WHAT THE FUCKING HELLLLL!" Hinata screamed. "STOP THE FUCKING DAMNED CONVEYOR BELT!" She roared. It slowed down a bit.

Tenten would never make it! LUNG, Tenten, LUUNNG!

And lung she did, landing on the conveyor belt in the nick of time! "YES!" She screamed, and then felt heat.

"FUCK!" She screamed, having had her shirt catch on fire. "PUT IT OUTTT! PUT IT OUT NOWWW!"

"I GOT YOU!" Hinata screamed, having found a fire extinguisher conveniently located in the trash.

SSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

"PFFT! HINATA! HINATA! IT'S OUT!" She screamed.

"Why would someone throw out such a good fire extinguisher?" Hinata wondered aloud.

"ITCHY ITCH ITCH ITCH! OW OW ITCH!" She yelled, scratching everywhere at once.

------

As the next few days passed, there was no more school, and she was forgetting more and more about her world. Finally, on the day she made her wish, she knew she had to do something with the plant... but what?

She had until midnight, she knew that somehow. Oh well. She shrugged it off. Tonight was her and Ino's night! She had finally gotten someone's drinking license picture that looked just like her with makeup on and her hair up in buns. She and Ino were going to party like there was no tomorrow!

Tenten grinned at herself in the mirror. It was 9, her mom thought she was going to the library. It was raining, so she would wear a long coat to hide what she wore. She had on a tube top that showed her stomach and a micro miniskirt with high heeled knee high boots.

Tenten had forgotten who she was that week.

Getting to the club, they entered and were instantly hit on by two tall men. Both went and were treated to very strong alcoholic drinks. Neither were planning on staying sober.

--

Hardly an hour later, Ino and her man had left together, and had taken the car that Tenten and Ino had ridden in on the way there. Tenten had no way to get back, but she was too drunk to notice. As soon as she did, thirty minutes later, she'd turned to Ryan, her 'date.' He accepted the offer of taking her back to her house.

--

In his car, thirty minutes later, Tenten felt slightly awkward, knowing in the back of her head that Ryan was not sober. He parked the car, and when Tenten looked she realized she was not at her house. She was in an alley.

"What is this?" She said as Ryan advanced towards her, trying to kiss her.

"Stop it! Stop it." She said, her speech firm yet slurred.

"No! You're in my car; I can do what I want in here!" He said, his speech slurred as well.

"Take me home NOW so I can get out of your car!" She shouted angrily.

He started to back up but then thought better of it. "No, why don't _you_ get out!" He yelled, opening her car door and throwing her out. He backed up his car and left.

"Ow..." She sat up, rubbing her head. "Whud's his problem!" She said thickly. Standing up, she heard a crack in the alley. Backing up to the entrance of the alleyway, she peered into the darkness. 6 figures came out of no where.

"Hey pretty little girl... how'd you get all the way out here?" One of them said, and Tenten didn't need another invitation. She ran, as fast as she possibly could in those knee high boots, which wasn't very fast. One of them caught up with her and grabbed her from behind. She stomped on his foot and elbowed his crotch, taking off her boots and running as fast as she could. She was much too afraid to even think of screaming. She rounded a corner, and then another one, and the next thing she knew-- BAM!

She ran into a wall! Trying to get up and run away, she ran into several trash cans and they fell down making a hell of a racket. So much for not being found..

The 6 guys ran up to them, and a seventh joined, surrounding Tenten. She closed her eyes and waited, heard a gasp, and then a thud. She opened her eyes. Someone was beating everyone up! It was... Neji!

Indeed it was, and he was rescuing the drunken Tenten. As all the men surrounded him, she grabbed a lid from a trash can and started hitting one with it. Another turned and punched her. She blacked out.

----

"AAGH!" She screamed, waking up in a bed. "AAAAAH!" She shrieked as she remembered what happened, then realized that she was in the bed of her new room. She looked at the clock. 11:58! CRAP! She ran up to the plant, wished back to her world and that all of what had happened didn't, but she could remember it. Then, she blacked out.

---------------------

She woke up in a hospital.

"Oh, Tenten!" Her mom cried, hugging her.

"W...what happened..?" She asked tiredly.

"You've been in a coma for a week! In a minute they were going to pull the plug on you and let you die!" She cried, hugging her not-dead daughter as Tenten's heart skipped a beat.

"Tenten," She looked up. Neji was there.

"Neji!" She cried, and motioned him over for a hug as well. When he didn't, she feigned being weak. Rolling his all seeing eyes, he walked up to her and gave her a one armed hug.

"Thank you Neji." She whispered, not noticing his flinch. He stood back up just as Gai and Lee came in, their faces stained with tears.

"OUR BLOSSOM! WE THOUGH THAT YOU WERE A GONER!" Gai said.

"BUT OUR BLOSSOM SHALL NOT WILT!" Lee added, and they continued on with some random speech no one paid any attention to.

Unnoticed by anyone, Neji wiped his face with his bandaged hand. No one would know he was crying just a moment ago. No one.

Tenten smiled when she looked at the clock. 12:05. She woke up just 3 minutes ago...

Seems like Neji saved her in more ways than one.


	4. The Fourth Wish

So, it's been… a lot of time since I last updated, but now I feel really guilty. I think I was given back a conscience or something! So I'm going to take this story off of hiatus and finish it up.

Of course, looking back on the past, my word is about as valuable as an old and empty tube of toothpaste, so you might not want to take my word for it. I also don't know what the votes are for the pairings. HOWEVER, you only have until Chapter 5 to vote! So when chapter five goes up, the pairings are cemented. Vote wisely.

* * *

The Fourth Wish

After spending the night in the hospital Tenten was allowed out the next morning. She still pestered those around her for more information about just what the heck happened when she made the wish.

"Hinata!" She called, reaching out to the girl who immediately flushed beet red.

"E-err… yeah, Tenten?" Hinata mumbled.

"What happened when I went into my coma?"

"O-oh. Your m-mom found you in y-your room, on the floor, unc-conscious."

"I fell asleep in my bed, though."

Hinata shrugged, looking somewhat relieved. Curious, Tenten looked over Hinata's shoulder. A puff of blonde hair was disappeared around the corner.

"Awwww! Hinata!" Hinata flushed again, looking around for an escape. Tenten leaned on her head and pinched Hinata's cheeks.

"That's so adorable!" She continued, "Also kind of creepy. Why don't you just grow a backbone and talk to him?" Hinata shook her head vigorously, slapped Tenten's hand away from her face and dashed away, quick as a lightning bolt.

Tenten shrugged and walked off, adding a new wish to her list.

---------------

"Er… Neji?" Tenten asked tentatively. Neji turned away from his ramen bowl to look at her.

"Y-yeah, do you know… could you tell me what happened while I was in a coma?"

Neji looked at her calmly. "Gai-sensei and Lee both freaked out and tried using the force of their energy to wake you up… your mom cried continuously… even Sasuke visited you, or maybe that was because his teammates dragged him to you…" He trailed off, thinking. Tenten felt her cheeks grow hot.

"Really? Even Sasuke? Huh," She mumbled, feeling oddly loved. Neji looked at her and grunted.

"A-actually, I was just wondering why I was in a coma?" She asked. Neji shrugged.

"They never could figure it out. Currently Tsunade's worried some ninja got into the village and is attacking people, but you're the only one who has gone into a coma so far. I think her theory is off. It could have been a bug, or maybe you were…" He trailed off again, spacing out.

"Neji?" Tenten asked. When he didn't respond, she punched him in the shoulder. Neji looked at her, then got up and walked away. Tenten looked at his still full bowl of ramen, that had already been paid for, and chowed down.

-------------

The next day Tenten came to training early. After stretching and testing herself to make sure her skills were still up to par, Gai and Lee appeared.

"SO MY BEAUTIFUL FLOWER!" Gai began, "YOU ARE ONCE AGAIN FILLED WITH THE LIFE OF YOUTH!"

"INDEED, GAI-SENSEI! SHE SHALL NEVER AGAIN FALL PREY TO THE EVILS OF SLOTH!" Lee shouted.

"Sloth?!" Tenten asked in disbelief.

"NEVER AGAIN SHALL YOU FORGO YOUR RESPONSIBILITY AS THE GODDESS OF KONOHA!" Gai continued.

"Goddess?!"

"WE ARE THE PROTECTORS OF KONOHA!" Lee shouted.

"LEE! YOU UNDERSTAND COMPLETELY!" Gai shouted with glee.

"OF COURSE I DO, GAI! YOU ALONE HAVE TAUGHT ME HOW TO BE KIND!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

And they hugged amidst a waterfall of cherry blossoms, despite it not being anywhere near Cherry Blossom season. Tenten glanced up and saw Kiba flying overhead, cheerfully sprinkling cherry blossoms over the pair. Tenten just shook her head.

Neji came up and ignored the scene completely.

"Ready to spar, Neji?" Tenten asked cheerfully. Neji shook his head.

"Why not?"

"I'm not going to spar with you anymore."

"Why not?!" Tenten asked angrily.

"Just because, I don't think I need to spar against you anymore."

"Why not?! Only my weapons can help you with your—"

"You and I both know that I've been beating you since the day we started sparring."

Tenten sputtered in disbelief, not knowing what to say. "But we helped each other to improve throughout these years! I helped you and you helped me!"

"You haven't really been helping me enough," He said slowly, as though choosing his words carefully. "You passed out for a week, for one. For two you aren't that interesting to spar with. I've been getting bored. For three, Gai-sensei's going to want you to begin your training again slowly, because of your coma. I can't wait for that."

Tenten almost saw red. "Oh really?!" She yelled, but that was all she could think of to say.

"Yes."

After struggling to think of something to say, she finally came up with something she hoped hurt. "You can't get strong enough with me, then," she said, her voice returned to her normal level. "In fact, I'm not sure you can get strong enough with anyone. I'm not sure it's even a possibility for you. Getting strong enough to be accepted by the main branch of your family. Peh! You can't go against your destiny." She finished bitterly.

He looked at her but didn't say anything. She searched for some kind of emotion in his face, anger or sadness or hurt or guilt or anything, really. But he merely said, "Glad you understand my incentive," and turned to Gai-sensei to ask for a new training regime.

Tenten turned around and began to kill the trees that surrounded their training area.

----------------

The next few days were lonely without a sparring partner. She still had her other friends, like Hinata and Lee, but Lee was an awkward person and Hinata apparently didn't like being stuck in the middle of an argument. Meanwhile, Tenten became more and more depressed about losing one of her "best friends" or "training partner", or whatever he was.

Finally on the 7th night, Tenten was able to make another wish. After pacing around her room carefully, she turned to the plant.

"I wish that Neji was born into the main branch of the Hyuuga family."

Immediately overcome by fatigue, she collapsed onto her bed. Lately her wishes had been taking a lot out of her, but she didn't really know why. Slowly she fell asleep.

* * *

Yeah, I know. The humor wasn't really there in this chapter, but I promise there will be humor in the next. Srsly!

EraTomo

P.S. Please review. xD


	5. The Fifth Wish

Yeah, so, no one has reviewed, but people liked to favorite and story alert. :\ I guess those are interesting, too.

* * *

Tenten awoke, feeling sluggish. She glanced at the clock:

9:45AM.

She was forty-five minutes late… She willed her body to move, but it wouldn't. She wondered why.

"Mom? MOM?!" She called, hoping her mom would help her get up. Her mom poked her head in the door.

"Why can't I move?"

"Oh, honey. You and Lee overdid it yesterday," She said quietly. "Lee can't really move either. Hinata's the only one who is alright, but to think that she could take you both down like that…"

"Hinata? Take us down?" Tenten began to laugh like a maniac. Then she shut up, because it was cruel to laugh at her friend like that. But the truth was, Hinata didn't have an absolute defense like Neji. Tenten's weapons would be able to take Hinata down before Hinata came close enough to touch Tenten.

Tenten's mom shook her head sadly, then stepped out of the room, calling behind her, "I'll make your favorite today, and when you get your strength back you can leave."

Tenten began to feel queasy. Please, not her _favorite_…

* * *

Tenten began to wonder for a moment. Last time, when she had made her wish to go to another country, she had passed out. Was she passed out now? Shouldn't Neji have passed out? But then, Hinata would have passed out too. No, wait. Tenten has wished for herself and all of her friends to go to another country. Technically everyone should have passed out, but only Tenten had. Maybe this was because when she chose to change the current past or present, or future, she passed out? Or had she just visited a parallel realm in which she and everyone she knew lived in America? Tenten shuddered at the thought of Ino and another phantom-Tenten prancing around America and getting drunk, and then probably raped.

So, was this another alternate reality? Or, because it hadn't been a wish to affect Tenten directly, was she not in a coma? That wouldn't make sense, though, because… because why?! Tenten stopped thinking, because it was really bad for her health and it wasn't really getting anything done.

"Here, have some food," her mom said, entering the bedroom and placing down another omelet. Tenten felt sick, but ate the food anyways. A few minutes later, she could move! She looked up at her mother in wonder.

Her mom shrugged. "You became paralyzed so much that I had to create my own remedy. Of course it wasn't permanent paralysis, and it was because of your chakra, so."

Tenten almost chuckled, and then began to run towards the training grounds.

* * *

"Hey, Hinata!" She called as she entered the grounds.

"Hello, Tenten. I'm sorry that you were so hurt this morning; I heard from your mom." Hinata said, almost as though she was embarrassed. Tenten nodded in dismissal of this apology. She chose not to acknowledge something that a parallel universe Tenten would do, instead of the real Tenten.

Lee appeared. "Are you all right, my beautiful flower?" He said gently, pulling Tenten into a hug. Tenten started to flush, then immediately hoped that he had meant 'my beautiful flower' in the way he usually does.

"Er… yeah, I am. Of course," Tenten mumbled, pulling out of Lee's embrace and enthusiastically loosening her limbs. Lee looked confused, as did Hinata.

"Tenten, are you sure you're okay?" She asked.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?" Tenten said cheerfully.

"Because… normally, aren't you a bit…" Hinata paused, as if looking for a word that wouldn't insult Tenten. "…tired in the mornings?" Gai-sensei, somewhere behind Lee, snorted with derision.

"Less tired, more grumpy and rude, and also very pessimistic, and sarcas—" He stopped, seeing the look on Lee's face.

"Oh. That's odd, I feel really great today!" She said, beaming at them. Lee looked as if he had just seen a pot of gold, and Hinata stumbled away, looking afraid.

After training and eating lunch and then going home, Tenten looked out of her window, trying to see the Hyuuga compound. If Hinata had kept her personality, wouldn't Neji have—

She stopped. Actually, Hinata hadn't kept her personality. She had turned out to have Tenten's 'old' personality, very much. Tenten was a grumpy freak, and Lee was… not Lee.

She wondered what had happened. She also wondered how Neji was acting. He probably wouldn't be stuttering like Hinata was, but…

She was doing it again. The crazy talking-yourself-into-oblivion-when-it-would-really-help-a-lot-more-to-just-go-out-and-see-for-yourself thing. She decided to go to sleep.

* * *

For the next five days, Lee and Hinata were confused to see Tenten so happy again, but went on with their training as usual. In fact, Team Gai was becoming quite strange. Without Tenten there to anchor her boyfriend/not boyfriend Lee, he was going back to his incredibly cheerful self. Hinata and Tenten were humoring them, but clearly interested in training. As a result, Team Gai was becoming the most energetic team of all. The consequence of this was, without Neji's emoaucity to oppose the antics of Gai-sensei and Lee-the-amazing-turtle, Tenten and Hinata were being subjected to cruel humiliations: standing on their head for ten minutes, and when they failed, running around Konoha twenty times, and when that failed, kicking a tree five hundred times, and when that failed, swimming seven hundred laps around a lake…

Tenten was quickly beginning to go insane. Thankfully, the next day was a day off.

Tenten pulled Hinata aside. "Hinata, can I come visit you tomorrow?"

Hinata looked startled, but shrugged. "Why not?"

Just as Tenten was about to go home, Lee stopped her.

"Tenten, may I... talk to you? For a moment? Alone?" He added unnecessarily, despite the fact that there was no one else in their vicinity. She nodded and sat down on the bench he had gestured to. He sat next to her nervously, and held her hands.

"I know that you and I... have had, something going on..." He began and cleared his throat. Tenten was caught between apprehensive that he was asking her out, and hopeful that he was breaking up with her.

"You and I--" He gestured between them, "Have been... odd. I've asked you to date me before, and although you said no, it was rather like we were dating..." Tenten was amused that Lee's definition of 'dating' was 'an enthusiastic embrace', and then realized that before they had probably...

She shut down her brain. She noticed now that at some point Lee had grabbed her hands, and was wondering just when he had and why she hadn't noticed.

"And, you said no because you said you had problems of your own to figure out. And now, it seems you don't. But you've also been acting really strange, almost like you're a different person. A lot like Hinata, but still different. So, I'm just not sure where we are going to go from here," He concluded. Tenten nodded, making a face that she hoped appeared sympathetic.

"I understand what you mean. Maybe we should just, let it go for a little while, see how we both feel about it, and then we can think about it... you know, in a week or so."

Lee nodded, and then his face slowly began to turn red. She wondered why, and she also really wanted to run home and hide, or laugh. Just as she was about to say goodbye, though, Lee leaned in and kissed her.

It was Tenten's first kiss. It felt wonderful and _completely_ wrong. Wonderful because kissing feels like that, but just so _gross_ because _this was LEE!_

He broke the kiss and Tenten stammered, "Y-yeah, s-s-so I'm going to g-go now," and ran as fast as she could to her house without another glance back.

* * *

The next day Tenten was up and over to Hinata's house before Hinata had finished combing her hair. Hinata let her in anyways, and Tenten went to the room that had used to be Neji's. It now belonged to Hinata, and was filled with stuffed animals, pink and blue sheets, curtains, and paper and pencils. Instead of painting the walls, Hinata had hung curtains all around the room. The effect was a nice one, Tenten decided.

After most of the day had gone by, filled with talking and a slow-motion sparring session where Tenten learned to block Hinata's attacks in hand-to-hand combat, Tenten began to slowly approach the subject of Neji.

"So... how's the little one been?"

"The little heiress, you mean?" Hinata said bitterly. "Same as ever, can't do anything. Stutters all the time, so unsure of herself. Hesitates a lot, I hate it when people hesitate."

Tenten nodded, noting that this was how Neji viewed Hinata before the exams.

"I see. And how's Neji been?" Tenten asked casually.

There was a brief silence, one that was filled with dread, as if Tenten had touched on a subject that wasn't supposed to be touched on. Then, to her horror, Tenten found that Hinata's eyes had filled with tears.

"I knew there was something wrong with you. This was your plan, wasn't it? You bastard!" Hinata's voice was shaking with suppressed rage. "You know very well that he died just a few weeks ago!"

Tenten was shocked. "W-what?"

"You were THERE. You went to his funeral. You SAW them put his casket in the ground. You horrible, cruel monster!" Hinata said again. "You know what an effect this has had on my family?! Our heir, our prodigy, our brightest hope for the future, assassinated while on a mission. I had told you how he promised me he would abolish the side branch."

Tenten just sat, numb with shock and horror.

"Get out."

And so Tenten did. She stumbled home slowly, and collapsed onto the bed in her room. She turned to face the plant. "I wish things were back to normal," she said, and fell into sleep once more.

* * *

Hmmm. When Tenten awakes, where will she be and what will have happened?

The pairings become final when posted next chapter. Last chance to vote.

Also, please review. Look, I even updated in time! xD

EraTomo


	6. The Sixth Wish

The Sixth Wish

* * *

When Tenten awoke from her week and three day long coma, she awoke to a window halfway open and curtains blowing gaily in the wind. She was inside of another old but scrupulously clean hospital room. A lone plant stood on her nightstand. Something seemed odd about the room, though.

She continued looking around, trying to pinpoint what it was. Aside from the odd fact that no visitors or nurses or doctors were anywhere near her, the room was much bigger than it had been the last time. She struggled to sit up, amazed to find her body felt like lead. She glanced over at the two beds that were lined up next to her, and was then fell back onto her bed, horror having sapped her strength.

Neji and Hinata were next to her. Hinata seemed fine; she merely looked as if she had been taking a nap, free of medical equipment and breathing softly. But Neji's appearance was worse. He was tied to any number of medical appliances- an IV hung above his head, slowly dripping fluid into his arm—a monitor stood by his bed, showing his heart rate and beeping as quietly as a drop of water falling into a sink. Something near him hummed, and Tenten feared it was a lung-and-heart machine, the kind that you only use when you can't breathe on your own and your heart can't beat on its own. His face was scrunched into a look of pain, yet he sat as still as a ghost.

A noise on her side made Tenten turn back to Hinata once more. She was waking up, too. She scrubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and glanced around, seeing Tenten.

"Oh! You're finally awake," She said happily, failing to stutter in Tenten's presence. "That's great. Well, kind of. It's not really great at all what's happened to us. You should have seen Hiashi's face… It was…" she trailed off, looking for the right adjective but not being able to find one suitable. Either it was such a bad face that she can't think of a respectable term for it, or Hinata wasn't as healthy as Tenten had hoped she was.

"What… happened?" Tenten asked, although she already knew: The plant hadn't just dragged her down this time. The plant had dragged the real Hinata and Neji into the alternate reality as well, although strangely enough their personalities had still been different in the alternate world. …Had Hinata been dragged in earlier, so she already believed it? Was she still in that personality? And if so, would Neji still be…

"Apparently someone from a different village- Tsunade already has suspicions but won't say for sure- has been trying to take out the ninjas they think are dangerous, one by one. You had been hit by the first attack, and when that didn't get you they came at you again, but this time they got Neji and me too," She said, somewhere between solemn and excited.

"Wait. That doesn't make any kind of sense!" Tenten yelled, suddenly fearful. Different visions flashed through her head—a war between a faultless village and hers—people dead because of what she did, littering the streets—houses on fire while infants cried and clutched dolls, mothers horrified and fathers dead—a lifetime of warfare over something as stupid as a plant! "If they wanted to take out ninjas, why me first? Why not just go straight after Neji, or Naruto, or Sasuke, or Sakura, someone who is actually a prodigy, actually strong? Why would they have to pick us off with something like a coma-inducing illness?" She asked, hoping there was no answer.

"Well, picking us off would be a lot more effective than actually fighting us and being endangered, don't you think? And _I_ figure—even though Tsunade won't say what she thinks—that the ninjas are weak against long-distance attacks. Why else attack one of the only long-distance battlers in our town? Or maybe they can't handle fighting with weapons. You are, for sure, the only weapon specialist in our entire village, Tenten," Hinata said, her tone saying instead, 'You should already know this.'

Tenten frowned. She didn't very much like this new-Hinata's personality. This Hinata is warped. She isn't even the alternate-universe personality that she previously was, she's just gone insane. Tenten leaned over to Hinata, closing the gap between them by a few more inches.

"Did you… by any chance, have a very… real feeling dream while we were in a coma?" She asked. Hinata's eyes widened, then she shook her head.

"I guess it felt pretty real, but it wasn't like I was walking around or anything. I was chained to a chair and I had a pretty nice talk with this weird voice."

_Wait, what?_ "A voice?!" Tenten was taken aback.

"Yeah, a voice. It asked me all sorts of questions, like why I was who I was, and why I was so meek. It made me see that being so hesitant isn't helping me at all. Being kind hasn't really helped me at all."

"Hinata! Your kindness is one of your best qualities! There are so many ninjas who just kill without mercy, or kill once and can't be kind. You can be kind and merciful, and merciless on the battlefield… That's ideal!"

"No, it isn't. Look, I've already made up my mind, if you want to talk about it you can take the drug again and try and find your own voice to talk to," Hinata said, not trying to disguise the hiss in her voice. She turned over in her bed to face Neji's, instead. Tenten continued trying to whisper to Hinata to avail. At last it seemed Hinata had fallen asleep.

But… a voice? Tenten hadn't heard a voice in a long time. The last voice was the one… from the strange shop? No, after her third wish, when she had barely come out of her coma. That was it, wasn't it?

Was it?

It wasn't, was it?

Was it?

Maybe something had been done to her brain. She couldn't think clearly; it was like trying to sift through soup. It was disgusting and made her feel like she had eaten something that would feed on her insides. She had changed Hinata accidentally. But if this new Hinata was happy, should Tenten have the authority to change Hinata back?

Not just that, but Hinata had talked to a voice for a week. Long enough to change her entire outlook on life… The fact that the voice could do something others had been trying to do for so long but had failed to do… It scared her.

She turned over and fell into a dispirited sleep, trying not to let a voice invade her dreams.

* * *

When she next awoke, it was morning. The fourth day from when she had made her alternate-universe-shift-to-the-real-world wish. Odd, for some reason.

Hinata was up and reading a book on her bed. She pointed wordlessly to a plate of food on Tenten's nightstand, as if daring Tenten to speak. Instead Tenten hungrily devoured the food, as if she had been a lioness eating her first catch in a month. Then she stepped off of her bed, and hobbled over to Neji's.

He looked hollow. And porcelain, like a doll. His eyes were closed, but his face was still pained. She reached over to touch him. He wasn't cold, but it didn't feel like he was warm, either. He was room temperature. The monitors told her he was still alive, but she didn't believe them. This was not Neji that was normally alive. This was Neji who was being kept alive, painfully, not actually living. Just a body pretending to live.

"They're not going to…" She began, breaking the thick silence that had spread over the room since she had gone over to Neji. Hinata pretended as if she had noticed just now that Tenten had gone over to Neji's bed. "… Pull the plug?" Tenten finished indifferently, shocked that she hardly cared whether he lived or died.

Hinata just shrugged. "I don't know. Way I see it, that bed's been empty for days."

Even though her words were harsh, Tenten halfway agreed. But still, it was Neji. He was still, technically speaking, alive. There was some way to save him. Was he talking to a voice, too? Was he in an alternate universe he didn't want to leave? Or had Tenten's alternate reality bring an alternate reality Neji to the surface? An alternate Neji, of the dead variety.

That _stupid little plant._ She hurtled towards her bed, her stiffness and heaviness no longer mattering in the wake of her anger. The stupid little plant was sitting on her bed, as if mocking her. The stupid son-of-a-bitch.

She grabbed the tag on it, turned it over and saw nothing. She snatched it off, crumpled it, and threw it into the trash. She shouldn't wish anymore. She couldn't even wish for a new Neji, could she? That would just bring in a different one, not her teammate, not her friend. He couldn't be fixed by wishing, magic, illusion, whatever this plant did. Tenten needed to find a way to undo her wishes, and wishing wouldn't help. She turned to run out of the room and was stopped by a nurse. A nurse who was abnormally strong, and lifted Tenten and placed her into her bed. Sakura pulled down the mask that had covered half of her face, and pulled off the cap that had hid her vibrantly pink hair.

"Sit. You must eat. You must sleep," she said, mechanically.

"You're not Sakura, you robot." Tenten said venomously, not at all in the mood to be coddled.

Sakura hissed, then nodded. "Right. Well, they said you'd be out of sorts, but you're alive." Her eyes briefly glanced towards Neji, as if trying not to.

Suddenly Tenten saw inky blackness invade her field of vision, and fell into an uncomfortable rest.

* * *

An eerie song was playing from somewhere. An eerie, creepy song, the kind that sounds like you should be at a carnival, but hidden underneath that song were several moans and groans, and odd feelings of this-is-not-good. As if a child had laughed, but it wasn't a good laugh. A laugh of malice? A laugh of evil and revenge.

Still in the dark, Tenten emitted her own light. It was strange, though. She still couldn't see. What was the point of light if there was nothing even in the darkness to see? She had no time to ponder this, as ahead of her the light turned to a faint purple. She began to run, slowly, like someone had grabbed onto her ankles and she couldn't lift them past a certain point. Like there were dead bodies on her being dragged behind her. She chased the purple light, while the children laughed as if they were murdering someone, and while the eerie song played as if she should be enjoying this somehow, in a twisted way. And in a very sick, inhumane way, she was.

"_Come to me…"_

Tenten woke in a cold sweat. Come to me? Come to you where? The purple from the strange shop, that was for sure, that she knew for sure. But… the purple shop. It had vanished. There was no way she could. She looked around, saw Hinata sleeping fitfully next to her, saw Neji in the same position as he was last time. She saw a ray of moonlight shine through the window, and then her gaze found the plant. She lingered on it, tempted. Then she stood, walked to the window, and climbed out.

* * *

The result of that trip was her walking around town in the dead of night, half-naked in a hospital gown, looking for a shop that wasn't really there. She raced through the streets—her hair out of her buns, having come loose at some point, she wasn't sure when—and chased a shop that didn't exist anymore in the real world. It probably existed in quite a few alternate realities, in a few different universes, but for Tenten it only existed in her mind.

She had forgotten how badly she had been affected by the coma, and the adrenaline of finding a way out of the horrible hole she had dug herself into washed away. She fell, unable to move, but aware of everything that was happening to her hapless body. The crash after the adrenaline, something that most people feared, something that should never be felt. Her mind was active, but she was paralyzed. It began to snow lightly. Her nose was covered with frost. She could feel snowflakes melting on her bare legs, feel every inch of the hairs on her body standing up, goosebumps now littering her body like salt littered the ocean. She was shivering so badly it appeared she was convulsing. She was drooling; it looked as if she was frothing at the mouth.

Someone found her lying there and took her to the hospital.

* * *

After the fifth day was spent in therapy, Tenten awoke on the sixth day, battling spirit out of her. She had one day left. What if she just chose not to wish? That would be simple enough… but it wouldn't save Neji. She would have to find some other way to save him, then. Hinata had been free to go, but Tenten, having been influenced by the drug/illness/illusion twice in a row, was now exhibiting terrible signs: fever, seizures, convulsions, mass delusions. Never mind that all of the things she was experiencing were real, not mass delusions. Never mind that she had been unable to move in a snow storm for three hours before being rescued. Never mind that she hadn't had a seizure, instead her fight-or-flight system had caused her body to shut down temporarily…

* * *

Once again in the inky blackness, Tenten began to march forward before there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Purple, for sure, but she knew it would show up sooner or later. She was still trapped, but this time she could feel the individual fingers on each of her ankles. She didn't want to look and see the dead bodies, the undead bodies, whatever held on to her. She plowed forward, and this time, when the purple light shone at the end of the tunnel, children came along with it. Dead children, with hollowed eyes and pale skeleton-bone faces, children in suits and dresses, faceless children with no hair and with hair and with leering smiles and horrible, horrible children with thoughts that came out of their heads and tried to get into Tenten's. Horrible, horrible children were horrible.

Unable to face them Tenten turned around to see two bodies rising out from the ground, leering at her in an unexpressive way that only said that she was as unwelcome as a giant slab of deer meet in the dead of winter when given to a hungry traveler that had been trapped on a mountain for weeks. They leered at her, faceless versions of Neji and Hinata, dead bodies clinging to her. The Neji was as alive as a brainless clone, the Hinata was merciless. Tenten cried out; Neji held her down and Hinata's hands closed around her throat…

* * *

The final day of the wishing had come. Tenten was exhausted; she had no drive left in her. She wondered if, continuing like this, she would end up as dead as Neji was. Neji, who was still 'alive', living as if dead.

The day passed by easily, Tenten lost it like you lost water when you tried to hold onto it in your hands. It passed through her mind and body, she didn't feel it or think about it or respond to the people who tried to talk to her. There had to be a way to reverse what happened. Had to be.

The clock turned to eleven as Tenten drifted into her sleep.

Unfortunately, Tenten hadn't made a wish.

She had had no idea what would happen when the clock struck twelve.

* * *

As you can tell, it has now moved from Humor to Drama. Thank you. Please review, lovely reviews are lovely indeed.

EraTomo


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